Hint Coin Havoc
by Nixi Stasia
Summary: A oneshot inspired by my boyfriend playing Professor Layton, so don't take it too seriously. On his first date with Claire, Hershel gets rather distracted on a search for hint coins.


**AN: Recently, I got my boyfriend into the Professor Layton games. He really enjoys problem solving and loves video games anyway, so no wonder that he seems to have taken to them pretty well. Earlier this week, we went down to the coast for a couple of days, and on the train he was playing Curious Village, and became rather determined to find as many hint coins as possible. Thus, he continued to bang the screen in the most random places, whilst I pretended not to know him.**

 **That gave me this idea.**

 **I do not own Professor Layton, that belongs to the lovely Level-5. Neither do I own my boyfriend, cause you can't legally own a person... Shame.**

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Hint Coin Havoc

Hershel Layton stood rather nervously in the park. Never before had he had a date. At least, that's what he thought today was.

Nevertheless, he had dressed as well as he could. Being a student, it was rather hard to keep his clothes neat, and in some cases even clean, as the prices of laundrettes were increasing. However, he had done his best, and gotten his best shirt and red waist coat freshly washed and ironed, and his trousers had been freshly pressed. Now, he waited at the arranged meeting point, for his first date, fluttering in anticipation.

Just as it hit twelve o'clock, the redhead Hershel had been waiting to meet turned the corner. She was punctual. That was a good start. Hershel had arrived early, as a precaution. After all, a gentleman is never late.

"Hershel!" She beamed. Her name was Claire, and she was a physics student at Gressenheller University. It appeared that she, too, had dressed well for the occasion. She wore a green blouse and a black pencil skirt. Rather simple and sensible, but... nice. "You haven't been waiting long, have you?

"Hello, Claire," Hershel smiled in response, adjusting his red cap so the sunlight didn't get into his eyes. "No, not at all. You're just in time."

Claire smiled in response- or had she not stopped smiling from beforehand?

"So, what are we doing this afternoon?" The redhead queried.

"Oh..." Hershel's grin transformed into a frown and his cheeks grew a shade of red. "I- err- didn't make any. I thought that I would leave it up to you. After all, a gentleman always lets a lady decide..."

In truth, Hershel wasn't a hundred percent sure on that one, but it seemed like a polite and un-controlling thing to say. And that was good, wasn't it?

"Oh, okay," Claire nodded, the smile hadn't left her face. "Hmm... Actually, I know a place around here that's quite nice and humble."

"Perfect!" Hershel exclaimed. "Lead the way."

Before they began to walk, Hershel offered out his arm for her to take. This was one of the pointers his closest friend, Clark, had given him. It was only half way through the second term, and Clark had already established himself as a romantic in the University, after 'pulling' Brenda, a Literature student. It was her, in fact, who introduced the two. The move seemed to work effectively, as Clark had said it would, as Claire gracefully linked her arm with Hershel's.

Claire led him down through the park and down the street to a seemingly peaceful cafe. Hershel raised an eyebrow as he looked upon the entrance, he didn't recognise the cafe... And that meant only one thing.

Hint coins.

Yes, in this new area, unexplored by the archaeology student, would lie several hint coins- just for him. His eyes lit up at the thought.

He started subtly, of course. Gently tapping plant pots that sat by the window with his foot, and giving the door handle a gentle prod before he opened it, but he had found one before he and Claire had even entered the establishment. His eyes filled with greed; he certainly didn't need these hint coins. He had boxes of them stashed at home, thousands probably. He rarely used them, too. He was a very intellectual man, who could solve basic puzzles at a glance and those with a high picarat score rather quickly. It was rare that he _needed_ a hint coin. But he _wanted_ them. And so, he began to search a little more frantically.

Without even realising it, he had let go off Claire's arm and was jumping up and down at the window, trying to poke the door brickwork, like a cat in the rain (whose owner's hadn't bothered to install a cat flap), and when that search turned out to be fruitless, he moved onto... The bins. Much to Claire's dismay.

"Uhm... Hershel?" Claire frowned, rather worriedly. "What exactly are you doing?"

"Hmm?" Hershel looked up from where he was poking a black sac of waste, which smelt rather off. "Oh! I'm looking for hint coins, of course."

"Oh..." Claire nodded slightly. Brenda had warned her that Hershel was one of those puzzle enthusiasts. "Perhaps, you can search for hint coins later? I'm rather peckish, right now..."

"Oh," Hershel reluctantly pulled back from the bins. He was pretty sure searching for hint coins like a maniac was not a good thing to do on a first date. "Yes, of course. Let's go inside."

And so that's what they did. However, upon entering Hershel was unable to control himself, it seemed. He tried to make it less obvious to Claire, but other customers at the cafe were rather confused to the man's random jerks to the salt and pepper pots, the lamps against the wall, and the historic photos of that area of London that were pinned around the cafe. Claire tried not to notice.

Once they had ordered their tea and sandwiches and it was bought to them, Hershel looked down at his food with a sheepish expression.

"No," Claire said firmly. "Just eat it, no poking it for hint coins."

Hershel pursed his lips and looked down at the cheese and tomato sandwich. He carefully set his fingers down and picked up the sandwich... But he must have pressed his hands down too hard, as a red exclamation mark jumped out.

"Oh!" Hershel exclaimed. A bright grin spread across his features. This was far better than a hint coin... "I've found a hidden puzzle!"

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 **AN: I actually think that Claire would have joined in in helping Hershel search for the hint coins, but like I said, this was inspired by my boyfriend so don't take it too seriously.**

 **I hope you enjoyed it! If you left a review I will smile! (Also if you're a fan of Layton/Claire check out my "A Hundred Snapshots of Their Lost Future" fic- a story completely requested by you lovely guys!)**

 **Nikki~**


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